Cotton Wool Kids

[Accip74 7,112]

 

 

 

The days are gone when as 8 or 9 year old you could wander and roam wherever you wanted and play till you got hungry and had to go home. I know i wouldn't turf my youngsters out like that anymore due to the dodgy adults that are lurking. Tbh that'd be my only fear. Early 70's when i was a nipper nonses were not heard of. Think alot of it nowadays is that kids need a constant eye kept on them whilst out because of dodgy characters.

 

Do you really reckon there weren't nonces about? I reckon there were just as many sickos then. They just seem more prevalent these days due to the internet. Don't you remember all those "Don't talk to strangers" talks?

Yes of course there was..........most noncing is done by people in trust anyway & often go's unreported.....definitely more paranoia about kids getting snatched off the street though....

Child abduction and murder has shown a steady , sustained and continued decline over the last 30 years.............FACT

 

Yep.......paranoia greater than the threat itself.....

[dare 1,103]

I remember my mum telling me before going out dont talk to strangers and if anyone pulls up in a car even if they are asking for directions don't go near the car. I used to reply "ill kick em in the balls and run" lol. I think if I had kids and they didnt do things like climb trees and stuff I'd end up forcing them out the house. Surely that's part of growing up? Climbing trees, building dens, playing 40/40 till its pitch black out and even getting in fights with other estates. It's all part of life and never done anyone no harm.

[pesky1972 5,247]

Always been filth that would hurt kids.., and always will, impossible to tell if there's more or less. We've been rooting them out much more in recent years and because it's all over the media it seems as though the problem's on the increase. The perception of risk is higher now, but the actual risk to kids may well be much less because the risk of them getting caught is much higher.

 

On the one hand the increase in awareness of the risk of paedos is a good thing as kids probably recognise the danger and can appreciate that it's in no way their fault and the correct thing to do is report any abuse...., the flip side is that some parents are terrified, and suspicious of anyone & everyone. That transmits to the kids and I don't think that can be healthy.., and kind of makes kids victims of abuse by proxy.

 

Mine are allowed to play out all day. Do I worry about them getting taken off the street...of course, and probably more than my parents did or had to about me, but it's a balancing act. The easiest option would always be to wrap them in cotton wool and stick them in their rooms with a play station but I'm determined not to let their childhoods be affected by the threat of some scumbag they might never meet. Of course the threat is always there, but you have to weigh it up.

 

Most nights I walk the dog past 3 ponds where I spent endless days drowning worms and occasionally catching a tiny wee perch...and loved every minute of it. They'd be surrounded by kids in the summer holidays and the bushes round them were decorated like Christmas trees with every colour and shape of bubble float. I've never seen anyone fishing them for years and you'd need a chainsaw now just to get in to get a cast. Sad.

[Blackbriar 8,569]

@abarret - I still climb fruit trees at 51 years old. Got to make my wine somehow !!

[stabba 10,745]

I still stick by my claim that in the early 70's nonses were virtually unheard of. Granted they will have been there...just that we'd never had the exposure(pardon the pun) to them as they have today. Don't forget there was just 3 telly channels back then and the wireless. As for Saville and co being nonses...yes they were but they hadn't been outed at that time. Not once did i ever think i was gunna get tampered with or abducted whilst out playing. Nowadays you cant send the bairn to the shop 30 yards away without needing a police escort. Shame really.

[Blackbriar 8,569]

Getting back on track.....................

 

The Scouts and Girl Guides currently report their highest memberships - seems odd when some kids are afraid to go out. So, could it be class issue ? Are Scouts and Guides predominantly what we could call 'middle class', more engaged with their parents and more encouraged by them ?

 

Just an idea ................................

[forest of dean redneck 11,597]

Our autistic lads away on respite,,so took youngest ones to Penarth today,after we had chips and ice cream on the pier,we went down on beach,and there was some fishing tackle looked like been bought in on the tide,so I took the weight off and put it in my pocket ,left missus an kids on beach ,an took hooks an line up to the bin,and when I came back kids had leapt in the sea,shoes and socks on pmsl.

They were asleep in the car before we got to Newport coming home.

[THE STIFFMEISTER 15,873]

I was just talking about this today, in the holidays or indeed in term time, I was never in the house, I was always just on the go , in the house for a feed then out again...we ratched through the woods, biked miles (we regularly went to the villages of our school mates that were sometimes 15 miles away) waded and played in rivers and streams , walked miles through fields and indeed, often cycled 9 miles along a major a road to get to a huge bridge we all jumped off into the rocky river

 

there's hardly a part of longtowns local environment I couldn't be dropped blindfolded into and walk back from easily....

 

Would I let my 2 year old daughter do these things when she gets to the age I did?

Never in a million years

[dare 1,103]

So what has changed technology or the parenting? My little sister has every latest gadget you can think of. Even got a 300 pound docking station last week. Got to have a good quality one lol not sure why with the crap she plays. She goes out with her mates from school, once a week I'd say on average. When she's indoors and the suns out it drives me mad so I tell her to get off her arse n go out. I without fail get the answer "there's nothing to do". Thing that really gets on my nerves all she does indoors is sit on Facebook.

[Neal 1,866]

Although tv is partly to blame, in that when we were younger you only had a couple of hours kids tv per day and now they can watch it all day, it's the parents who should be deciding if it's on or not.

 

Having said that...I was against my two watching much tv until I realised that cbeebies is actually pretty good. They quite often watch something and then get inspired to go to the junk box to make something, look for minibeasts in the garden or get a book on the same topic.

 

On the subject of class (which was mentioned above) as a reception teacher who's done home visits you can usually pretty much guarantee that the poorest/most chavvy parents (not necessarily saying that the two go together) will have the biggest tvs and the greatest number of play stations etc. I don't think my son even knows what an xbox is!...come to think of it...I'm not sure myself!

[lurchergrrl 1,441]

I grew up in the 70's in a big city. We played out all day - even in the snow. Nobody ever knew where we were. We had some fun .... also, I knew kids that got molested, and kids that got abducted. We just didn't have the same constant, global coverage but it sure happened. I had a close brush more than once with pervs trying to get their hands on me and my friends. Big cities tho, higher odds of it happening.

 

My kids are growing up in a single parent, low income household. I work but I haven't got much in the way of pennies to rub together lol I have a small tv, the kids have a smaller tv and one second hand Xbox. I admit I'm ... cautious, about letting them play out and with whom. That being said, I took the time from a young age to scare the sh!t out of them about strangers - adults AND other kids - how to be street smart, what to do about people and cars approaching them etc. I'd rather them be suspicious and safe than end up stuffed into a fridge (and that did happen to a relative of mine).

 

So mine play out. Their shins are covered in bruises and they have splinters in their hands. They climb trees, they make dens. They swim in rivers. They walk for miles. They're all Scouts. My daughter lost a fight with a tree and came home with a UFC-style black eye. She wore it like a badge ... but I keep my eye on them. They wear watches, they have to check in. They have boundaries about how far they can go. But the most important part about all of this is: I parent then. I teach them, I watch them, I trust them ... and I let them go a little bit more as time goes by so they can learn about life. Come home late, go past the boundaries, you pay the price and lose your privileges. Earn my trust, you get more freedom.

 

I despair at some kids, can't walk a mile without bleating about sore legs. Live in fear of getting their clothes and hands dirty. They'd chose a video game over building a den. Makes me sad. Also makes me a feel a bit smug that I'm doing a pretty decent job with mine lol

[Accip74 7,112]

Anyone gonna admit to watching 'why don't you'?..........or did we all have swallows & amazons type childhoods.......

[marshman 7,757]

Anyone gonna admit to watching 'why don't you'?..........or did we all have swallows & amazons type childhoods.......

lol got to say I watch them all in the summer holidays got turfed out though after either Heidi or Robinson Crusoe .

[Accip74 7,112]

I was out with my mates for so long once........when I got home, my parents had divorced & sold the house!

Edited August 14, 2014 by Accip74

[marshman 7,757]

I was out with my mates for so long once........when I got home, my parents had divorced & sold the house!

mate I bet they was gone the minute you walked out the door ?